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Ross Chastain bumps and spins Chase Elliott in Stage 3 of Ambetter Health 400

JHby:Jonathan Howard•02/25/24•

Jondean25

Ross Chastain Atlanta
Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

This race was getting really intense with the lucky dog fight getting right in the middle of the top-10, that’s where Ross Chastain got Chase Elliott. This NASCAR Sunday has been full of ups and downs in the Ambetter Health 400.

Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace were racing for the Lucky Dog spot. They each wanted to be the first one a lap down when the next caution came out in order to advance to the lead lap.

Chase Elliott and the top-10 pack were going around Chastain and Wallace and the lapped cars. Chastain gave Elliott a couple of bumps, and that’s when the No. 9 went spinning. Elliott had already been involved in the Lap 2 wreck earlier.

Tough break for Elliott.

Ross Chastain earned himself a phone call from Rick Hendrick last season after wrecking some of his cars. I’m not sure if this will result in another call or not, but Chastain is going to remain true to who he is. He races for every position and that includes when he is a lap down.

For Chase Elliott, it’s another mishap today in his home state. A hard pill to swallow, but there is a lot of racing left. If he gets a lucky break here or there, Elliott could make the most of his day and try to salvage a top-10 finish or better.

Ross Chastain takes out another Hendrick car

Everyone always blames Ross Chastain for wrecks. This time, he did have something to do with spinning Chase Elliott. You can see the bumps right there. But going three-wide in the middle of a Lucky Dog battle is just a risky place to be.

In other words, circumstances got the better of Elliott more than anything else. It’s a drafting track, bumps happen. Chastain just gave one too many and sent Elliott around. That doesn’t make it any less painful for those No. 9 fans and the team of course.

I think Ross Chastain needs to remain aggressive. It’s his identity, it is part of who he is as a driver. Today, he’s fighting to get back on the lead lap and gets on the wrong side of another driver’s day.

This shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Chase Elliott will be mad, but I’m not sure anyone at Hendrick really liked Chastain to begin with. After his run-ins on the track with many of their cars, it makes sense. Will this end up being a topic of discussion?